……“God
has created a manifested material universe around human
souls called ‘Jiva’. The ‘Jiva’
takes birth from life to life till its karma (both positive
and negative) is exhausted. After the karma is exhausted,
a human body is not required by the soul. Then the soul
continues in a body-less state and merges with God, the
Over soul from which it came.

The main function of Shri Sainath, the Param Sadguru was
to draw, train help and evolve the human souls to get
rid of their Karma and Jivdasa. Baba, in an earlier phase
of his life must have undergone the various Jivdasa Himself.
He has narrated many stories about His past lives and
relations in Shri Sai Satcharitra. Being the Over-soul
He knew about the conditions and the stage of evolution
of all souls and their past. Hence, He could guide and
control them effectively. He used to say that He could
draw the soul of any of His devotees at the time of death
even from thousands of miles and also that He knew every
thing about everyone wherever they are.

To
hold-on to such a Samarth Guru is the basic as also the
ultimate requirement of a true spiritual seeker. All Prayers,
Sadhanas, Poojas, Yogas are meant for evolving the soul
out of the sufferings and sorrows of its human embodiment.
Therefore, the Sadguru who is capable of taking the human
souls to the ultimate reality is the key person. This
key person, himself being beyond life and death, is a
guide for many lives of his devotees.

Parents
are linked with one ‘birth’ but the Sadguru
is linked with many births. All human relations, father,
mother, wife, children can walk along with a soul till
death. But it is the Sadguru alone who walks along after
death. He is, therefore, our best and permanent friend.
We should hold on to Him with all the love devotion and
faith we have. One must continue steadfastly, with faith
and realise that in this life whatever pleasure and pain
we experience are under His guidance and control.

These experiences are for the evolution of the soul and
are essentially required. Those who have this faith and
patience evolve faster than those who lose patience and
faith quickly. Baba said that when faced with a difficult
situation don’t break down. Wait and see what happens
because, it is my duty to protect my children/devotees
at any cost. What better assurance can be given by any
one?".........

FROM "LIFE OF SAI BABA" BY NARASIMHA SWAMI

……“
Baba occasionally used even accidental chances to furnish
further illumination on this matter. After 1910, Dixit
and some other friends wanted to leave Shirdi and asked
permission of Baba to go. Baba said, ‘You may go’.
Then a devotee asked, ‘Baba, where is one to go?’

Baba
at once gave a new turn to the talk, and made it educative.
Baba’s answer was, ‘Up’, that is, ‘Above
this’, which obviously meant, above the present
worldly level in which one is groveling with so many attachments
and repulsions, sorrows and joys, and so much of confusion,
without any calm perception of the underlying reality.
Then the question was asked, What is the way to go up?
Baba’s answer was, ‘There are plenty of ways
proceeding from each place. For you here, there is a way
leading from here. But the way is rugged. There are tigers
and bears on the route’. Baba was talking in symbolic
language. There were no bears at Shirdi nor tigers. But
what he meant was, there was obstructions on the way to
one's spiritual progress, which are as fierce and terrible
as tigers and bears.

It
was just then that H.S. Dixit intervened and said, ‘But
Baba, if one has a guide with him?’ Baba answered:
'If one has a guide with him, then there is no difficulty.
Then the tigers and bears move aside. If there is no guide,
there is also a deep yawning pit on the way, and there
is the danger of falling into it'. During the discourse,
Anna Saheb Dabolkar was present, and he had been debating
once whether a Guru was necessary at all for one's spiritual
progress.

Dabolkar
felt that this was the instruction given to him that a
Guru was essential and useful to overcome obstacles that
would otherwise hamper one's spiritual progress. The word
Guide here meant Guru. Baba's reference to the deep yawning
pit meant hell. So, Baba once again drove the much needed
lesson that unless one got a Guru, one would make no progress
at all, or in the language of Kabir, Guru Vina Kone Batave
Vat that is, Unless there is a Guru, who is to show the
way?

Baba
again and again pointed out that the solution to one's
intellectual riddles, conundrums and mazes, lies in the
practical step of summoning up faith and reverence and
love to a Guru, who will himself thereafter solve all
problems, remove all difficulties and drive off all tigers
and bears from the route, and save one from falling into
the yawning pit. Baba's metaphors must have been reported
or in any case had far reaching results.

Upasani
Baba who came to Shirdi in 1911, took Baba for his guide
and got his help, especially, by silent instruction through
visions. In one of the visions, Upasani found that as
he was passing on, there was a deep pit, which afterwards
he learnt was hell, and that when he approached it, hands
came out of that hell clutching at his feet trying to
pull him down. He had sufficient grace to remember his
Guru, and said, 'Let go, let go. If you don't let go.
I will tell Sai Baba'.

The
remembrance of the Guru knocks off all vasanas and tendencies
which lead to hell. Thus Upasani's. feet were released
from the clutch of the hands from hell. Upasani was then
told that it was a mistake to go very near the brink of
that pit. It was the Guru's grace that saved him from
that pit. This is allegorical or symbolical, but, in point
of fact, it was this same Guru Sai Baba's grace that saved
Rao Bhadur H. V. Sathe from the brink of hell, the sin
of immorality with a lady of doubtful reputation at the
shala at Shirdi.

On
that occasion Sathe felt like a thief caught red-handed.
He repented his stupidity immediately and resolved never
again to call at that woman's place or to commit such
a sin. So. Baba really did save this devotee of his from
falling into the yawning pit, and thus showed that he
was the Guru who would take a man on to the goal of his
life. If a man commits such mortals sins as adultery or
debauchery, he can never be fit to receive the higher
truths which alone can take him on to purity, detachment
and the love of God that ensures salvation and liberation.

Thus,
what Baba spoke to Dabolkar was illustrated in the case
of Sathe. But this was not the only instance in which
Baba helped either Sathe or others. It is not merely kama
that degrades the soul and takes it to hell. Krodha anger
or hatred does the same. Baba in the case of Sathe did
another piece of signal service. Sathe had purchased a
plot of land at or near Shirdi, and wanted to go and see
the place.

He
brought a cart and wanted his wife to get into it so that
they might go and see the place. But Dada Kelkar, his
father-in-law, who arranged the sale, was anxious that
claims to that land should not be put forward by Sathe's
jatis or next of kin, as they would claim it if they came
to know that the land was purchased by him. So, he had
told his daughter not to go with her husband to see the
land. So, when Sathe wanted his wife to get into the cart,
she would not come.

Then
at once Sathe got angry, and took the horse whip in his
hand and was ready to whip his wife, for her impertinent
refusal. He had lifted his hand, when Sri Sai Baba, who
was watching the whole scene, unseen, from his own Mosque,
sent up Megha to hurry up and bring Sathe to Baba.

So,
as the whip was lifted, Megha said, 'Baba wants you',
and down fell the whip. Sathe went to Baba. Baba there
softened Sathe, and told him that there was no necessity
for him to see the land for the land was there all the
time. Sathe found how Baba had saved him once again from
an act of gross cruelty to his wife, which would also
be one of the sins leading to hell. Conquest of temper
is essential for one's religious progress.".....

DEVOTEE EXPERIENCE

Satcharitra
is a Treasure gifted by Sri Sai to his devotees.That is
why I always refuse to accept any money for the Satcharitra
I give to others. Many people ask me for the book and
when I give it to them they ask how much it costs. We
may price a Holy book for its print but cannot price its
contents. This is my strong opinion.

Satcharitra
is a ocean like the four Vedas. Once Dr. Mrs. Vinnie Chitloori
(author of Ambrosia in Shirdi) told me that she always
prays Baba to give her at least seven births as His devotee
and grant strength to understand the Satcharitra in all
aspects and grant liberation in the last birth .

Baba makes a devotee fulfil his vow to other Gods is a
known matter from the Satcharitra. Once this happened
to me. Five years ago I have copied the Holy Sri Gurucharitra
in manuscipt (Master Universal Sai Trust of Ongole in
Andhra Pradesh is constructing an Ashram in Shirdi and
they wanted to place the manuscript books copied by the
Sai Devotees in a pillar or stoopa).

On
completion of the work while packing the Book for despatch,
a thought came to my mind that Lord Dattatreya is incarnation
of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara.....Oh Sainadha....it
would be nice to feed atleast three people on completion
of my work. The next day morning I went to a post office
and sent the parcel containing the Book to the Organisation.

Walking
through the street suddenly one villager with two children
came and asked for food for his children. I said that
my house is too far from that place and expressed my inability
to provide food instantly and offered him money to feed
children in any restaurant. He refused the money and said
that he too possessed money. He further said that he came
in search of his wife who had come to the city with her
parents to work in a construction project from their village
as they had no earnings at their place and children wanted
to meet their mother. One child was 10 years old and other
was about 8.

He
said they came by a train from their village and the children
were hungry and the money in his possession was required
for his return travel. I again insisted that he accept
the money instead of food as I was totally unable to feed
them on such a busy street, but he did not yield and requested
me to provide food to his children. I was totally baffled
at his demand. To my surprise I noticed an Irani restaurant
a 100 yards away. Overjoyed by seeing this, I asked him
if any snacks would be alright for them as normally such
kind of restaurants serve only tea and snacks.

He
agreed. I took them to the restaurant and while looking
at the huge glass box containing bakery biscuits, samosa
etc, casually asked the bearer there if cooked rice available.
He replied that Vegetable Biryani was just ready. I asked
the villager whether the children would eat such spicy
food. He said yes and asked me to arrange at least one
plateful to feed his children and he further said that
he can resist himself. But I ordered two plates full of
Biryani for the children and paid money for it in advance
and told the bearer not to ask any money from them and
took a few steps towards the exit.

It then struck me that I had made a mistake. I went back
into the restaurant and saw the children giving spoonful
of food to their father. Cursing myself for not ordering
food for their father, I approached the bearer and asked
him for one more plateful of biryani and paid money for
it and turned towards the villager. The feeling I had
on seeing his expression of gratitude is unexplainable.
With great relief I came out of the restaurant and was
surprised to see a Baba idol installed in a small portion
opposite the restaurant. I looked at my wrist watch and
the time was 12.20. Then I realised what I thought when
I was packing the manuscript of Sri Guru Charitra previous
night and how Baba made me to fulfill my wish that too
in His presence. My faith in Him increased multifold with
this incident.

Prayer
can do what nobody else can. Very early in life my Guru
gave me deeksha and initiated spiritual pursuits in me.
He told me to recite a mantra whenever in distress and
said that I will find a power helping me out. These words
gave me such satisfaction and relief that automatically
I started doing Guru dhyan followed by prayers every day.
Like everybody else I have had my share of joys and sorrows.
The going has been rough many a times but daily prayers
helped me overcome all the adversities in life.

Gradually I started feeling the presence of my Guru in
my house whenever I remembered Him in crisis. Initially
this happened occasionally. As time passed I started feeling
Him around me more often. Gradually, I felt that He was
waiting for me every morning in the puja room to converse
with me and shower His blessings on me like a parent does
on His child.

Now I definitely feel more enriched because I see Him
everywhere - in every individual, everything around me.
I feel that He resides in my very being and is constantly
uplifting me by providing the power of discrimination
between permanent and impermanent. I see no difference
between my Guru and God. Everything now merges into one
absolute. He guides me every day, every hour and every
minute.

Actually now I know that He was there with me all along
- helping me, guiding me, teaching me, uplifting me and
fulfilling me. He was always in contact with me. I lost
contact with Him because of my ignorance. I lost contact
because I was not patient enough when He was teaching
me through the experience of life. But He never became
impatient.

He
did not leave me ever. He always made sure that I learnt
and progressed. He always gave more than I ever needed.
I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude while writing
this little article. Probably a mortal like me is not
competent enough to even begin to understand the power
of prayers. Time and again I have experienced that we
cannot reach where our prayers can!

It is so
many years since Shri Shirdi Sai Baba attained samadhi
and still we are experiencing his compassion and love
as much as his devotees of those days experienced. He
is a guiding force in the lives of all Sai devotees. The
fact that there are so many Sai temples in India and all
over the world and so many devotees meeting on the platform
of Sai consciousness on this website shows how Baba is
with us at every step we take.

Anitha
Kandukuri, Canberra Australia

"Wherever I climb I am followed by a dog called Ego."
by Friedrich Nietzsche
How true it is. As we climb up the ladder of success or
fame be it at work or where Gods work, our egos become
stronger and we look down up on others who try to suggest
things or do better than us. From Ego stem anger, jealousy
and hatred. It is for this reason we see people who have
climbed the ladder of fame fall to shame very quickly
and find it hard to get back on their feet because we
have the load of ego on our head.
Baba bless us and guide us always.

The
Heritage of Shirdi Sai Magazine is really wonderful and
it is great being a part of it. Wishing you and the entire
team of Heritage of Shirdi Sai Magazine a very Happy and
prosperous New Year. May this New Year bring in lots of
joy, happiness, good health and above all the grace and
blessings of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba.

Viren,
London

This is really a work which must be called as "Baba
Jee Ki Marzi Se" in fact this is a great job done.
The shower of holy blessings of Babajee with his presence
in the heart was felt while going through this masterpiece
named as Heritage of Shirdi Sai newsletter Sai E-zine.
I must say please carry on with this work and make others
feel His holy presence which can change the way of living
of everyone. The motive is to change the content inside
- not the container......

With the blessings and grace of Shri Shirdi Sai , the first
ever online Shirdi Sai baba radio will be broadcasting,- leela's
of Baba thru His bhajans in Hindi, Telugu, Marathi and Gujrati,
Sai Mahima , Sai amritwani, Sai mantra ,Sai Satcharitra prayaan
,discourses ,Geeta Gyan , Vishnu Sahasaram and much much more.
I will be hosting it from this thursday. I will also be sharing
my experiences and experiences of other Sai devotees thru
this media.

This
is the first ever online radio dedicated to the lotus feet
of Shri Shirdi Sai baba. Just by listening to this radio,
Sai devotees will feel the bliss of Baba and His leela's around
them. You can go to http://debu7366.blogspot.com/
to listen to this radio [ password- omsrisai ]or for knowing
the weekly program guide and to post your request, suggestions
,feedback and comments- plz visit http://sairadio.blogspot.com/
. You will also find a lot of important information at this
site in the coming weeks.

Shri
Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan, Canada, (Toronto) cordially invite
Devotees to attend - volunteer - Receive Baba's Grace and
be Immersed in Divine Bliss on the AUSPICIOUS day of THURSDAY
6:30PM at the GUR MANDIR 207 Queen's Plate Drive., Etobicoke
(South of Steeles on the East side of Highway 27 on Queen's
Plate)

Invocation
Ceremony of Baba's Divine Blessings will be conducted with
Sacred Ashtotra Namavali to the accompaniment of Bhajans,
Satcharita Paraayan, Naivedaya Offerings Dhoop Aarti and Mahaprasaad
(Preeti Bhoj) Devotees are welcome to bring a dish for Naivedaya
Offerings as inspired by Baba. Details at www.shirdisainath.org

By
the grace of our Shirdi Sai we are happy to announce the inauguration
of Shri Shirdi Sai Temple in LA region in the city of Montebello.
We need the support of all Sai Devotees. For more information
please email krishna@shirdisaila.org

The North America Shirdi Sai Temple is located at 700 James
Burgess Road,Suwanee GA 30024.Temple is open all seven days
of the week. Baba's Kakad Aarti, Abhishek Puja, Madhyan Aarti,
Dhoop Aarti and Shej Aarti are performed every day. Bhajans
are sung on all thursday and sunday evenings. For information
regarding the daily schedule, temple activities and events
please visit Mandir's website: www.templeofpeace.org
or call 678-455-7200

This
is to inform all of you that we have a Shirdi Sai Baba Temple
in Malaysia. Here we have daily prayers and special prayers
on thursday mornings 9.00am and bhajans and satsang from 8
pm onwards. Also breakfast, lunch and dinner, cooked by our
seva-group is provided to all devotees. other than that first
thursday of the month we have talk on spirituality, second
thursday on health, third thursday satsang on Sai Satcharitra,
fourth thursday talk on general topics, by experts in the
respective fields. Lot of charitable activities are conducted
by our Centre,like sponsoring immediate services to childrens\'
homes, old-folks homes, sick and needy, etc. etc.

The
dream of having a full fledged exclusive Shirdi Sai Temple
in Singapore, will soon come true. Thanks to the efforts of
a Sai devotee in making this happen. The Shirdi Sai Baba Centre
in Singapore is now live with the 3rd floor function hall,
Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman temple, being secured and converted
to a full fledged exclusive Shirdi Sai worship centre. The
Centre will be devoted to celebrating the life & teachings
of Shirdi Sai Baba only. For more information visit our website
http://www.saisansthan.com/

You may have given many different gifts to your
friends and loved ones, but giving a subscription of "Heritage
of Shirdi Sai" magazine would be a unique gift as it connects
the people you love with SADGURU SHIRDI SAI and brings
His blessings with the gift.

Topic of Discussion feature is
intended to initiate useful discussions on topics
related to Shirdi Sai Philosophy and His teachings,
Guru Tradition, Teachings of the Sadguru,
the nature and functions of the Perfect Masters,
true devotion, qualification of a disciple, etc.

Send your poem, article or drawing on SHIRDI SAI
BABA and the best ones will be showcased in Heritage of
Shirdi Sai Magazine and in the Children section on our
website. Anybody upto 18 years of age can send in the
material.

In order to ensure that Heritage Of
Shirdi Sai sustains itself and is available to devotees
at affordable rates, we do solicit advertisements. However,
in keeping with the magazine’s philosophy and approach,
the advertisements would be displayed as banners and
not creative commercial product.